Thursday, March 29, 2012

Life is all about perspective, and having the right or wrong perspective can make all the difference. I found myself last week in a state of exhaustion, but along with that I felt thankful to be exhausted. The things that tire me out, are also the things I'm blessed to have: my family, the house I own, my cute face doggie Sunny, my husband, my job, my other job, and my other job lol. It can be easy sometimes to feel weighed down with responsibility, but at the same time, my responsibilities are connected to the things I love about life.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

I've seen this discussed on blogs before, and I just recently was chatting about it via twitter with one of my blogger friends. Many Black people find Mad Men unappealing because of the lack of Black people on the show, and that those who have been shown included the maid, an elevator operator, and a Playboy Bunny.

I LOVE Mad Men. It's one of my favorite shows.I think it needs to be understood that the show's creators are trying to stay true to the times, and at the time, Black women were maids. Now, this isn't to say that there weren't any Black people doing anything worthwhile in society at that time because there definitely were, it was during the Civil Rights Movement. BUT, those Black people are not likely to be the Black people that the Roger Sterlings and Don Drapers of the world ran into.

I don't think Black people are badly represented or underrepresented on the show because I can fathom that following the characters we follow, we are seeing Black people as they would have seen them. Encountering them with the frequency that they would have encountered them.

It does seem from this season's premiere (where there was an unprecented number of Black people shown lol) that they may be tip toeing a bit more into the Civil Rights Movement. I'm interested in seeing how things will go, and if they will hire a Black secretary.

Sunday, March 25, 2012

I've been fortunate enough to always live in areas where I don't overtly encounter racism. In the wake of all the conversation surrounding the Trayvon Martin tragedy I was reminded of my one specific encounter with a racist individual:

Written June 14, 2008

Today at 8:09 a.m. Tim and I were waiting in a parking lot on Ellsworth and Federal for our Philly Car Share car. A woman, a white woman, was walking her dog, picking her car up from the parking lot. After staring at us the whole way into the lot she asked “What are you doing here?” The fear and hate in her face, and the tone of her voice was as if she expected the answer to be “stealing a car,” “robbing you,” or “selling drugs.” All we were doing was sitting in the parking lot waiting for our car. What gave her the right, and what prompted her to question our being there, four blocks from our house? I am 99% sure that if we had not been a Black couple she would have proceeded on with her day, with no questions asked. Tim said we did a service to Black people by answering her questions politely and not being rude in a situation where we were obviously being treated unfairly. I hope that that is true, I hope the next time she won’t find a Black couple sitting and talking in a parking lot to be suspicious.

I have a niece, a beautiful 5 month old baby girl. I love her dearly, but she scares me. I'm scared for her. Scared for her to grow up in a world where sun-kissed individuals like herself are seen as inadequate for no reason other than the ignorance of millions of people. A world were she and her future boyfriend will be questioned as to why they are sitting talking together four blocks from their house.

It makes me sad, it makes me afraid, and it makes me angry.

When I re-read this this morning I almost began to cry at my use of the word suspicious. Suspicious was what got Trayvon Martin killed.

Saturday, March 24, 2012

I've just very recently began paying attention to my nails again. I've neglected them for years since I stopped getting acrylic nails. I probably haven't had a manicure since my wedding lol. In my new found nail love I was excited to try out Kiss Nail Dress. The nail dresses are stick ons/decals of funky colors and designs.

The pack (which comes with 28 strips, leaving you with extras to either do a second manicure, or cut up for cool stick-on designs on top of polish) come with a nail file, which is super convenient. The way application works is that you place the strip on the nail, fold it over the tip of your nail, and file down the excess. Here is what the whole strips look like:

The application process for me was a little tricky. I think it probably goes a little smoother with someone with longer nails. I had a hard time smoothing the strips out, and the filing process was a little clunky for me since my nails don't go very far past by finger tips. I may have filed on the tips too much, which may have detracted from the length of time the manicure stayed fresh. As you can see from the picture below, especially on my pinky, I'm a novice at smoothing out the bubbles lol. This is definitely something that you'd get better at with practice:

I still LOVED the results. I got compliments every day I wore them. The manicure lasted much longer than polish, which for me, is usually only a day before it begins to wear down at the tip. I do my hair, I do my husband's hair, I was dishes, and clean the bathroom, and got a nice wear out of them despite all that abuse. Without all my activity they probably would have lasted the advertised 10 days. Great alternative to polish for sure, and the removal was super simple, they peeled right off. $6.99 at Walgreens and other drug stores. Check, check, check em out!

Friday, March 23, 2012

If there is one thing among many that this Trayvon Martin tragedy shows us is that despite having a Black president, we are no where near a post-racism society. There are still plenty of people who gauge a person completely on their skin color. There are still plenty of people who live off of bias and stereotyping. The scariest thing is that some of these people will take their bias to the extreme and yield innocent people dead. Justice comes slower, or not at all all times for Black people, and incarceration happens quicker and at higher rates of being unjust.

It breaks my hear to see Trayvon's face. We'll never know what this little boy's future could have held. His only crime was being Black and that is scary to me. Just BEING got him killed. There is a lot of talk around the hoodie he was wearing. I think he could probably have been wearing a three piece suit and a person looking at him through the lens of hate would have still seen a threat.

I have seen many of my Black male Facebook friends comment on how they intentionally don't wear hoodies because of how they know they would be perceived, despite having squeaky clean criminal records and multiple degrees. That's a shame.

This whole thing is a shame. George Zimmerman is a shameful man. The thing is, even if he is tried and convicted he's not the only person out there with hateful and racist thoughts and tendencies. It kills me to say, there will be another Trayvon in the future. There will be another person who loses his life for being Black, as there have been cases before this one.

Will Black people every NOT be second class citizens? Will they ever not have individuals who house nothing but hate for them just because of their skin color? I hope that one day we evolve as a species to where we DO SEE skin color, but what is seen doesn't automatically give someone a likelihood to be killed just for living.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

It's probably every other day that I come across someone's vacation pictures or blogs or a travel pinboard on Pinterest and I think, "man, I wish I could go on vacation, visit some nice places, eat some good food..." Just recently I've been in the position to be able to think of my own actual vacation. The hubby and I are going to San Diego in May, and I couldn't be more excited! He's wanted to to go the West Coast for a long time. The furthest West I've been is Colorado. Since a friend of ours has recently moved to San Diego we figured we finally have a good excuse to make the trip to California.

Some things we want to do:

Legoland

San Diego Zoo

Day trip to Tijuana

Picnic at a park or the beach

Beach

Belmont Park

Lots of eating at good places

Seaworld

I would LOVE some input from my people who've been or live in the area. Tell me where to go, what to do, what not to do, what to eat, etc!

Monday, March 19, 2012

I received the Venus & Olay Razor complimentary to test via Influenster's VoxBox program. This is a new disposable razor product from Gillette that has an Olay moisture strip on both ends of the razor. Once done with the razor head you can dispose of that portion, and buy new ones to attach to the handle.

PROS:

- You don't need shave gel, as the moisture strips create a lather and moisturize the skin while shaving. I still needed lotion afterwards, it doesn't cut out that part of the shaving regimen.

- It comes with a SUPER convenient shower hook to keep it in. Making it easy to grab. I HATE when I forget to bring my razor into the shower with me and have to get out prematurely to grab it.

- The scent of the moisture bars is awesome.

- It has a five blade razor so it gets a nice close shave.*

CONS:

- *It has a five blades, which means the blades are close together, which leads to the razor clogging faster. I fear that the razor will be clogged before the moisture bars have been used up.

All around I give the razor two thumbs up. It definitely works. While the five blades do lend to quicker clogging, it also lends to an awesome close shave.

A refillable Venus & Olay with one replacement cartridge sells for about $8.99-$10.99. Packages of three replacement cartridges are available for about $14.99 - $19.49. You should see them popping up in your local food, drug, and convenience stores shortly!

Sunday, March 18, 2012

I should qualify this by saying this is what I watch primetime on Sundays. My Sunday days are filled with whatever the Food Network has to offer, as well as re-runs of Khloe and Lamar, Ice Loves Coco and Jerseylicious lol. I love watching cooking shows and reality TV on a Sunday.

Sunday Night TV Line-up:

Cupcake Wars - Food Network - 8pm

Reality TV competition meets cupcakes, you can't really go wrong with that. This show often prompts me to have some sort of sweet to end my weekend. I enjoy seeing the bakers creativity in making their various cupcake masterpieces.

The Walking Dead - AMC - 9pm (Season Finale Tonight)

I have to say, I'm not enjoying this season as much as I enjoyed the first season, mostly because I enjoyed seeing them on a journey, rather than living in a stationary place for so long. But I still enjoy the show. The Walking Dead gives you a classic zombie apocalypse survival story mixed with some drama story-lines. This show is definitely not for the weak stomached, because some of the zombie shots are super gruesome.

Shameless - Showtime - 9pm ( I never watch this live, I usually watch it Monday, or some other day during the week)

I LOVE this show. Definitely one of the shows I look forward to each week. The story follows the hugely dysfunctional, yet extremely resourceful Gallagher family. The story-lines always keep me interested, and I love to see this family, essentially plagued with poverty, make do with what they have, love each other, hate each other, it's entertaining all around. Drama and comedy, I'm invested in all the character's stories.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

I received a sample of Truvia complimentary to test through Influenster's VoxBox program. I give it a thumbs up as a sweetener. I definitely use less of it than I do of sugar. Two packets is enough to sweeten a single serve drink. It's a zero calorie sweetener, so it's good for the calorie counters out there, including myself, on days when calorie intake is high, and you want a sweet cup of tea or coffee w/o the added calories. My use thus far for Truvia has been pretty boring, all I've been drinking is tea lol. I did check out their website and found they have some cool recipes for some funkier drinks:

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Sometimes, politicians amaze me more than I ever thought possible. State Representative Debbie Lesko of Arizona has proposed a law that would give employers the power to request that women being prescribed birth control pills via insurance provide proof that they're using it for non-sexual reasons. Since Arizona is an at-will employment state (employees and employers can break from the employment relationship with no liability), that means that bosses critical of their female employees' sex lives could fire them as a result.

In case the name Debbie doesn't give it away, she's a woman, which is insane to me. I'll be honest, sometimes I can contemplate that a man will never have menstrual cramps, will never birth a baby, and can produce a child and walk away from it, so it is easier for them to discuss birth control in a hands-off business way. But for a WOMAN to propose this bill is absurd.

Concerned citizens are writing letters to Representative Lesko's office, here is the one my husband sent:

Hello,

I'm worried about the great state of Arizona lately. Maybe I've watched too many weird sci-fi movies late at night, but it seems as if all the smart,intelligent people of the state have been replaced by aliens(irony) that hunger for feet, especially their own, which they then proceed to devour on a regular basis nowadays. Now granted, I'm an old city-slicker with big city fancy ideals, but even on my elitist pedestal, I know it's a bad political move to suggest employers have the right to check if a woman is on birth control or not for employment purposes, citing it as "religious freedom". I can't blame you, you've been assimilated obviously, to the being that now inhabits you. There are a few things you're missing. One is this cool thing called the Health Insurance Portability and Privacy Act, or festively abbreviated as HIPPA. This thing makes it illegal to compel patients to disclose details about their medical history. There is this other thing called women. You're one, remember? See, in a election (this is were people like yourself pander for votes to get elected to positions of government), this "women" like to go out and vote. You know what else they like to do? Shhhh......................they like to have sex. Sometimes.................out of wedlock. They also like to vote as well. More than us lazy men, am I right?? Ribbing aside, I don't think most women are going to vote against their own self interest, especially when employment is at stake. I mean, we have the Muslim Terrorist Obama threatening all job makers with death if they start hiring, and various other "facts" about him according to The South. You're a republican in Arizona, which by default makes you a Christian Mother that is pro life, pro gun, pro death penatly, anti immigrant, and anti federal government. Do you really want to be anti-women too? Of course not!! So for $45.95, I'll send Agent J and K to investigate and see just wants going on in Arizona. Let's hope it's not too late!

Monday, March 12, 2012

I am putting myself on a "no buy" until April 1st. It was supposed to start the end of March, but I slacked off, did some spending, and now I'm getting back on the ship. A "no buy" is a period of time set for not spending money on things other than actual necessities and bills, kind of like a spending diet. No additional groceries, and certainly none of my luxury purchases like make-up and hair products. So, toilet paper equals a necessity, but something like rice isn't a necessity if I have something else I can replace it with, like mashed potatoes for example.

Why am I going on a "no buy?" Reason one is I've been spending a lot lately and just want to tone my spending down a bit. Reason two is, because I've been buying so many things, I have a lot of things, so I want to use up much of my groceries, make-up, and products because I now have so many.

I completely acknowledge that the whole concept of a "no buy" comes from having the privilege to buy as I please. My husband and I are very blessed, and I thank God for that.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

As an actor, and a site editor for Autisable.com when I saw the opportunity to volunteer for Theater Horizon's Autism Drama Camp it just made sense. I've edited probably thousands of posts on Autisable, but never had the privilege to really interact with an individual with autism. I loved my experience today. The kids were great, and the main thing I really took away from the day is that autism really is on a spectrum. Each child was so unique. That's one of the things that makes it difficult for people who don't know anyone with autism to understand the condition. There is no specific set of symptoms that exhibit in every person, and the traits of one person with autism can be completely different than the traits of another. It is really diverse.

I enjoyed my time today and can't wait to work with the program again. If you are in the Philadelphia area with a child with autism, definitely check out enrolling in the program. The next session begins in May and the kids learn acting as well as social skills.

Friday, March 9, 2012

Last night I had the privilege of seeing In This Place...at the Painted Bride Art Center. It was a powerful show, and superbly acted by Michelle Hurst. One of the things the show brought up was the fact that the little things that may make us happy today, we forget about, and don't remember years down the road. The way that our minds, and history and remembrance works doesn't allow us to keep fresh even the greatest of memories from the past.

In an effort to try to document small memorable things from every day life, I'm going to get a notebook and try to record at least one memorable moment each day: a great laugh I had at a TV show, I nice gesture from a stranger, a particularly successful marketing creative - the little things that I probably wouldn't remember otherwise.

Friday, March 2, 2012

I am all of the belief that men and women, and those who identify anywhere on the spectrum between those two, have the same capability of doing most things with the obvious exception of things directly linked to our differences physically. I am all about being a strong woman and not NEEDING a man...but...I still think men should open doors and give up their seat for a woman on the bus or train (especially if they are older than him).

Why is that? I don't really believe we are the "fairer" or more delicate sex, I just think it should be done. Do I not get to believe in equality and the independence of woman if I want the door held open for me? Do I think that the capability to bring life into this world warrants this treatment? Women don't NEED men to do these things for them, but I feel like it should just be proper protocol.

To add to my confusion on the subject, I don't except my husband to do these things for me, though I do hope that he's opening doors and giving up his seat for women he doesn't know, AND I do expect strange men to do the same for me lol.

Is it just part of general manners, like shaking someone's hand with your right hand when you meet them? Is it old fashioned ways that still permeate just because? Is this something antiquated that society should let go of?

I'm all mixed up... thoughts? As a man, do you feel like you are obligated to open the door for a women? As a woman, do you expect a man to give up his seat for you?

P.S. - when it comes to holding doors open specifically, I really think EVERYONE should hold the door for the person directly behind them, it just makes sense.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

I love television. Now that we've gotten that out of the way lol, here is my Thursday night TV line-up:

30 Rock - NBC - 8pm

What can I say? The show is just HILARIOUS. I adore Tina Fey as "Liz Lemon." It took me a while to get used to Tracy Morgan's character "Tracy Jordan," but now that I've adapted to his way of humor I don't find anyone lacking in their ability to give me laughs with every episode.

Archer - FX - 10pm

Another comedy, yet of the animated variety. This show has it's hilarious episodes, and it's ones that are just so-so, but it's 30 minutes out of my day that I don't regret spending watching TV either way. The story follows a spy/secret agency and the suave and self-centered spy Sterling Archer, along with his crazy and over-sexual mother, and slew of cooky co-workers including an ex girlfriend. If you like animated humor, you're likely to like this show.

***Possible addition: Awake - NBC-10pm

The pilot for this show actually airs tonight. It will be "auditioning" for me and the hubby, if you will. The premise sounds really interesting, and when I first saw the commercials for the show I thought it was a preview for a movie. The main character has a car crash with his wife and son. After the crash every time he goes to sleep he switches between two realities, one in which his son survived, and one in which is wife survived. I'm really looking forward to watching it tonight and seeing if it will be a permanent addition to my TV line-up.